Near Vuhledar, Ukraine: Russian troops attempted to breach Ukraine's defenses in the east and northeast on Friday, and artillery bombardments increased after the Kyiv government was assured by Western allies that tanks would be sent to fend off the invaders.

A day after at least 11 people were killed in missile and drone strikes that were perceived in Ukraine as a response to the commitments made by significant allies to send it tanks, Kyiv claimed that fierce battles were in progress.

Germany and the United States announced this week that they would send Ukraine dozens of modern tanks to help push back Russian forces, clearing the way for other nations to follow suit after weeks of negotiations.

Poland gave Ukraine a boost on Friday by pledging an additional 60 tanks on top of the 14 Leopard 2 tanks of German manufacture that it had already committed to.

According to Vadym Omelchenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to France, 321 heavy tanks have been pledged to Ukraine by a number of nations.

In addition, Ukraine has requested American F16 fighter jets. The government is aware of Ukraine's request, the White House's national security spokesman John Kirby said, but he added, "We don't have any additional weapons systems to speak to today."

Although Washington has advised Ukraine to wait until the newest weapons are in place and training has been provided - a process expected to take several months - both sides in the conflict are expected to launch spring offensives.

President Joe Biden was charged by Moscow with prolonging the conflict by arming Kyiv. Ukraine claims that giving its allies the tools to win the conflict is the only way to put an end to it.

The situation at the front remained extremely tense, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

In a speech on Friday night, Zelenskiy claimed that in addition to overrunning Ukrainian positions, Russian forces were also obliterating the nearby towns and villages.

Soldiers in the Donetsk region's Bohoiavlenka village reported that fighting had gotten worse around the town of Vuhledar, with Russian troops trying to advance and take it constantly.

Yevhen Nazarenko, a spokesman for the 68th brigade of the Ukrainian army, told Reuters that seven buildings and two schools in Vuhledar had been damaged as a result of heavy shelling over the previous 24 hours.

"They frequently employ aviation and artillery fire." "There is not a single peaceful second here,"  he said.

Bohoiavlenka was covered in thick black smoke, and explosions could be heard in the distance. Some houses sustained damage.

Oleh Synehubov, the governor of Kharkiv in Ukraine's northeast, reported that fierce fighting was still going on along the front lines but that Ukrainian forces were still holding out.

Ukraine will need an additional $17 billion in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining, and infrastructure rebuilding, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says. Russian air attacks hit five high-voltage substations in the central, southern, and southwest regions on Thursday, he says. Millions of Ukrainians faced electricity shortages after Thursday's missile and drone strikes.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine`s energy infrastructure with intense air strikes far from the front about once a week since October. Moscow says the strikes are intended to reduce Ukraine's ability to fight. The latest strikes focused on "facilities that operate Ukraine's defense industrial complex and transport system," it said.

Russia is sending in conscripts to block Ukrainian advances in the east of the country, a top Ukrainian military official has said. But they do not have the level of artillery and tank support they had on February 24, he told Ukrainian television. The date of Moscow's invasion in 2022 would be similar to the date of Ukraine's recapture of land from Russia.

Kyiv charges Moscow with deporting both adults and children from occupied territories and issuing them Russian passports. This is against "the fundamental principles of child protection in situations of war," according to Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N.'s refugee agency, and Russia must stop it.

On Friday, Japan tightened its sanctions against Russia by expanding its list of countries whose exports are prohibited and freezing their assets.

However, Hungary announced that it would veto any sanctions that would affect nuclear energy, dashing Ukraine's hopes that the European Union would act. Hungary intends to expand its nuclear power plant, which was built in Russia.

Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, made some "unacceptable" comments about Ukraine, according to the foreign ministry of Ukraine, which said it would summon Hungary's ambassador to complain. According to a ministry spokesman, Orban told reporters that Ukraine was similar to Afghanistan and was a no-go zone. man's

Russia stepped up its own offensive against Western organizations, with communications watchdog Roskomnadzor announcing that the CIA and FBI's websites had been blocked.

According to Russia, the "special military operation" was started to fend off an adversarial West. The invasion, according to Ukraine and its allies, was an unprovoked act of aggression.